Welcome back to another busy week! We are covering how COVID-19 is hitting solar energy industry in Germany, France, Brazil, India, how PV companies are reacting to COVID-19, LONGi’s new acquisition of new technology and many more!
COVID-19 Watch
Europe
COVID-19 has ground European PPA market to a halt
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the PPA solar projects are not feasible, said the analysts from German energy advisory Enervis.
According to its senior consultant Tim Steinert, the solar projects simply could not be financially viable without the subsidy due to the full cost of the solar projects.
However, the consultant is hopeful that by the end of 2020 or early 2021 the economic climate would be suitable for a subsidy-free business model.
Source: pv magazine
Germany and France
The pandemic has made it difficult for the solar industry players to meet the grid connection deadlines, which would result in fines or disqualification for subsidies.
Therefore Germany’s Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur) has made adjustments to the solar tenders accordingly: the auction results will no longer be published online. Another channel will be used for releasing the results after the agency has evaluated the developments of COVID-19.
France’s Directorate General for Energy and Climate (DGEC) has also postponed the dates of the upcoming solar tenders.
Source: pv magazine
Brazil
The PV industry in Brazil is already under the impact of COVID-19.
According to the survey conducted by Greener, a research and consultancy company in Brazil, the demand in the PV industry began to show signs of slowing down, while the prices of the solar power stations are increasing.
Greener has surveyed 541 companies. Here are some of the findings:
- 75% of them are PV system integrators.
- 71% of them are losing business.
- 85% of them have reported a weakening demand in the industry
- 50% of them have reported an increase in the costs due to the depreciation of the Brazilian currency
Source: pv magazine
India
COVID-19 is hurting the revenue of solar power producers.
The coronavirus pandemic is shutting down India’s economy, which led to a decrease in electricity demand and diminishing economic activities.
This could motivate the power distribution companies to withhold or postpone payments to the PV developers.
Source: pv magazine
Scatec Solar
Scatec Solar sees little Covid-19 impact so far
The Norwegian PV developer has not observed any discernable impact on the operation of its existing solar power stations so far. The company also believes its 2020Q1 production will not be far from its previous prediction.
However, the new PV plants that are still under development showed a different picture. The coronavirus pandemic is disrupting the construction, commissioning and testing aspects of the power plants. It remains to be seen how severe the impact is going to be.
Source: pv magazine
SunPower Corporation
Despite the uncertainty most PV companies are facing in recent times, SunPower is determined to split its company into two, SunPower and Maxeon Solar.
In order to navigate the troubled waters and save up non-essential costs, the company is implementing the following measures:
- Lower the salaries from the management
- Stop the hiring and pay raises
- Decrease capital expenditure
Source: pv magazine
Regional Markets
China
1.Nationwide
The production capacity of China’s PV industry has been skyrocketing since the beginning of 2020.
It is estimated that the cumulative PV capacity could reach 210 GW, which is concentrated in the industries of PV cells and modules.
Source: guangfu beijixing
2.Shandong Province
Shandong Energy Company has launched a public tender for 50MWp string inverter procurement.
The tender documents can be obtained from March 23 to March 27.
The deadline for bid submissions is April 14.
3.Guangxi Province
The Guangxi provincial government has launched a public tender for constructing a 9MW PV system.
The project includes 8 MW of rooftop photovoltaics and 1MW of PV carport.
The tender documents can be obtained from March 20th to March 26th.
The deadline for bid submissions is April 10.
Companies
Canadian Solar
CSI has released its financial reports for 2019Q4 and the entire year of 2019.
The highlights of 2019Q4:
- Total module shipments were 2.5 GW, compared to 2.4 GW in the third quarter of 2019 and fourth quarter 2019 guidance of 2.3 GW to 2.4 GW.
- Net revenue was $920 million, compared to $760 million in the third quarter of 2019 and fourth quarter 2019 guidance of $850 million to $880 million.
- Gross profit was $230 million. Gross margin was 25.0%, compared to 26.2% in the third quarter of 2019 and fourth quarter 2019 guidance of 19% to 21%. Gross margin was 24.3% excluding the benefit of a U.S. anti-dumping ("AD") and countervailing duty ("CVD") true-up of $6.4 million.
The 2019 Full Year Results
- Total module shipments were 8.6 GW, compared to 6.6 GW in 2018 and guidance of 8.4 GW to 8.5 GW.
- Net revenue was $3.20 billion, compared to $3.74 billion in 2018 and guidance of $3.13 billion to $3.16 billion.
- Net income attributable to Canadian Solar was $171.6 million, or $2.83 per diluted share, compared to $237.1 million, or $3.88 per diluted share in 2018.
- Net cash provided by operating activities was approximately $600 million, compared to $216 million in 2018.
LONGi
LONGi has obtained a patent and a cross-licensing agreement on Gallium-doped technology.
The company has signed the agreement with Japan’s Shin-Etsu Chemical, which holds the patents on Gallium-doped technology.
Gallium can be used as a substitute for boron, which is part of the manufacturing process of the p-type PV products. The cost of Gallium is roughly the same as boron, while the former can help PV products achieve higher efficiency.
Source: Taiyang News
(Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay)
